6 Necessities When Transitioning From Dorm to Apartment

This past year has been full of excitement and that includes signing my first lease for an apartment. I’m becoming a “real adult” and even though it’s a big step to take, I’m pretty happy about my decision. With that decision, I have to make sure that I know and remember exactly what to buy. Of course there are big things like a bed and a table, but living in dorms for a couple of years has made me a little too comfortable and I forgot about the things I usually don’t take care of. Here are a couple of things to buy when you’re transitioning from a dorm to an apartment.

1. Plunger

Although you may have bene used to seeing one in your house, typically, a plunger is only used by the custodian staff in dorms. So if there would be an “accident”, you wouldn’t necessarily need to clean it up. However in an apartment, having the water overflowing is now your responsibility. Plungers are pretty inexpensive, so just make sure to buy one before you need one.

2. Light bulbs

When a light bulb stops working in a dorm, there’s usually maintenance to fix that, both when it comes to smaller ones such as one by a bathroom mirror as well as the large overhead ones installed by maintenance. However, if there’s a bulb that isn’t a special bulb that needs to be changed, you’re usually responsible for those. It’s always good to have at least one or two backup ones just in case of an emergency or if you don’t have the time to run out and get one.

3. Toilet cleaning supplies

If you happen to live in a standard dorm, you may just see the custodial staff clean the bathroom a certain amount of times in a week. However, once you get an apartment, usually that goes away, which means you’re in charge of making sure your toilet is properly clean. This can include using items such as a toilet brush and cleaner. Of course you don’t have to clean it daily like some dorms do, but as long as it’s on a regular basis, you should be fine.

4. Silverware/Plates

This one might sound silly, but cooking for yourself in a microwave is a lot different than cooking in an apartment. You may want to have people over for dinner, and in that case, you would probably need multiple forks and plates for them to eat on. They don’t have to be fancy at all, just as long as they do the job.

5. Cookware

Going off of eating on actual dining ware, it’s probably good to have something to cook food in. Most of the dorms that I’ve seen don’t have a kitchen with a stove/oven accessible to students, so it can be easy to forget how to cook an omelet outside of using a mug and a microwave. You don’t need to buy the most expensive set in the world, but try to buy the pots and pans that you know you’ll actually use and ones that seem like they’ll stay in good shape for a while. It’s a bit of an investment at first, but you’ll be happy when you don’t have to repurchase all of the items next year.

6. A doormat

While this one isn’t necessary, it’s good to have for practical situations. For example, if you don’t feel comfortable with leaving your muddy boots outside of your apartment but don’t want to track the mud in your house, it’s good to have a mat so they can dry there. Plus it leaves the mess in one space. I would recommend either a small rug or a rubber one, as you can either use carpet cleaner or wash it outside so you can use it for a while.

These are 6 things I would recommend buying when transitioning from a dorm to an apartment. Some of these are either kitchen or bathroom related and none are bedroom related. I made that decision because you’re probably already used to buy the necessities for your room, especially if you’ve lived in the dorms for a couple of years and you’re probably not used to having a kitchen on a college campus or taking care of the bathrooms there. Hopefully this list helped make apartment shopping a little easier!